Before I talk about today’s donation, I need to mention that some of the auctions we’re running will be over soon. Most specifically, the signed ARC from Neil Gaiman and the signed collection of Girl Genius trades.
Fair warning. Don’t come crying to me because you weren’t paying attention and you missed out.
Also, don’t be too sad if the Gaiman ARC is out of your price range. He just sent us another cool book that we’ll be posting up in just a couple days. That one will be going into the general lottery, so everyone who donates on the team page will have a chance to win it.
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In the past most of the books we’ve given away for Worldbuilders have been… well… books. This is because most of the creative types I know personally tend to be sci-fi and fantasy authors.
This year we’re branching out a bit. We’ve put some lovely graphic novels in the mix. And, because I’ve made some webcomic friends at conventions, I can start hitting them up for donations too.
Now I’m fully aware that the distinction between cartoonist and web-cartoonist is a line so fine that in most cases it’s pretty nonsensical. I’m mostly including these comics here because I either discovered these comics on the web, or because that’s the easiest place for you to check out their work.
Anyway, here are today’s books. Some of them are donated by the authors themselves. Some of them are donated by me because I love the comics and I like to spread the word about them.
- A set of The Non-Adventures of Wonderella: Everybody Ever Forever and She Came From Outer Space by Justin Pierce.
I’ve been reading webcomics since 1999. So I make the mistake of assuming I know most of the cool comics that are up and running these days. Still, sometimes I’m painfully out of the loop. Wonderella was completely off my radar until somebody sent me this link.
Description from the author: The superheroine Wonderella is lazy, crude, self-absorbed and short-sighted… which might make her the most authentically American superhero in existence. Her awkward situations and active avoidance of heroic deeds can only be categorized as “Non Adventures.”
- A copy of Same Difference and Other Stories by Derek Kirk Kim.
This is a great example of a book that could easily go in just about any category. Comic. Webcomic. Graphic novel. Manga. Kim’s stories are sweet and strange and profoundly touching.
But you don’t need me to gush about him. This book has a blurb from Scott McCloud himself, calling it, “A literate, funny and beautiful piece of fiction.”
- Two copies of Xeno’s Arrow, Book 1: The Intergalactic Zoo by Greg Beettam and Stephen Geigen-Miller. Signed and doodled.
We’ve got two copies of this book, not just signed, but doodled in too. Xeno’s Arrow is the story of a group of aliens who decide to escape from an Intergalactic Zoo. It’s more of an ongoing story than a gag comic, but that isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its funny moments, too…
- A copy of Carpe Chaos: Ignition.
Ignition is the first printed compilation of Carpe Chaos comics, a surprisingly slick-looking collection includes multiple stories: Filter Dregs, Strength in Numbers, Moments of Elation, Worst Case Scenario, Hard Lessons, and the first chapter (and half of the second) of Rising Up. There’s some cool worldbuilding going on in here, and their website puts mine to shame…
- A copy of North World by Lars Brown. Signed and doodled by the author.
From Amazon: “Northworld really isn’t that different from our own… the biggest difference is the presence of mythical monsters, talking bears, arcane arts, and, of course, the heroes who stand ready to defend the innocent and helpless from these extraordinary threats!”
- A set of The Book of Biff, #1-5 by Chris Halbeck. Signed and doodled by the author.
I can’t remember when I first stumbled onto Biff, but these comics are like little zen stories. They’re little haiku of bizarre misery. Fun stuff.
- Two copies of Galaxion Book 1: The Jump by Tara Tallan. Signed and sketched by the author/illustrator.
I picked up Galaxion when I was at a Penguicon earlier this year. I always enjoy picking up books from webcomics I haven’t heard of before, just to try something new. I have to say that I enjoyed this one and I’m eagerly awaiting the second installment.
Each book includes a Galaxion-themed pad of sticky notes and a pin-back button.
“Tara Tallan has done a superb job; the cast is varied and have a viable chemistry that is fun to watch.” – Tangents Reviews
- A set of Gunnerkrigg Court books: Vol 1 Orientation and Vol 2 Research by Tom Siddell.
You don’t need me to talk this comic up to you. It’s got a blurb from Gaiman:
“I was thrilled to hear that my favorite webcomic was going to be collected on paper. I wish that Antimony Carver and her adventures and mysteries and myths, not to mention her school, has been around when I was a boy, to shape and warp and twist my growing mind – but I don’t think you could ever grow too old to delight in Gunnerkrigg Court.” – Neil Gaiman
- A copy of A Collection of Tales of Mere Existence: Sunny Side Down by Lev Yilmaz.
I’ve mentioned Lev Yilmaz on the blog before. But it turns out that in addition to his hilarious deadpan youtube videos, Lev also does some really nice comic work too, vaguely in the style of Matt Groening.
- A copy of Cat and Girl by Dorothy Gambrell.
In my experience, it’s rare that a comic is exceptionally smart, socially aware, and funny. But somehow Cat and Girl consistently manages all three.
As I mentioned long ago on the blog, this is one of my favorite comics, and I’ve been reading it forever. You should really check it out.
- A copy of Looking for Group written by Ryan Sohmer and drawn by Lar DeSouza.
From Amazon: “There is a place, set in a reality and time unlike our own, where the eating of small children is not necessarily frowned upon…where prophecy, magic, and adventure is as common place as setting fire to and then re-animating a chipmunk into a skeletal minion (it happens more than you’d think); and where an epic journey can begin by an accident of fate. This is the world of Looking For Group.”
- A copy of Goblins: Book 1 by Tarol Hunt.
Goblins has been one of my favorite webcomics ever since I found out about it. The art has grown in leaps and bounds into something really impressive. And it’s so rare that a storyline that deals with geek gaming humor also has an incredible sense of dramatic tension and an almost heartbreaking series of character arcs that stem from really emotional scenes. I swear that this comic has made me tear up a couple of times.
This is one of my absolute favorite comics, as I’ve said many times on the blog. Adding to my love is the fact that Tarol did a hysterical comic to help me promote the paperback release of The Name of the Wind.
You should really read it. But it has a strong storyline, so you have to start at the beginning…
- A copy of The Devil’s Panties Vol 1 by Jennie Breeden. Signed by the author.
When I stumbled onto the Devil’s Panties, it consumed about 8 hours of my life as I went through and I read the entire archive in almost one sitting. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s vaguely autobiographical, talks about the real-life adventures of comic artist Jenny Breeden.
After reading the comic, I actually met her at Dragon Con in 2007. And despite all of the other cool people who were there, she was one of the ones I was most excited to see. I was thrilled to buy this book and get it signed by her.
But now, for the good of the cause, I am donating it to Worldbuilders.
- A copy of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories by Nicholas Gurewitch.
This is a collection of the strips from Perry Bible Fellowship. While the comic itself isn’t currently being updated, you should really check it out if you haven’t already. It’s really the pinnacle of bizarre, dark humor. Over the years I’ve bought at least five copies just to give away as gifts…
- A full set Yu+Me Dream Volumes 1-4 By Megan Rose Gedris.
I picked this comic up on a whim at a convention. Then, after reading the first volume, I had to go back and pick up the next two. I had to wait for the fourth volume to come out in print. But now that the story’s finished, you can read it the way I wanted to, in one great gluttonous chunk.
- A set of Side A and Side B, edited by Rachel Dukes.Â
These are two comic anthologies where a boatload of talented comic artists tell stories about lives influenced by music. After reading the reviews, I went over to Poseur Ink and ordered a couple copies for myself. (Bonus: they’re on sale right now for the holidays.)
“there are lush, flowing borderless works; punky, scratchy pieces that wear aggro on their sleeve; deceptively simple illustrations that wouldn’t look out of place in a children’s book, arty tales that use tone without line (and would look good in a French cafe); and arch photo-reproduction work that is so hip it bleeds. And the range of tales! Intensely personal, autobiographical tales; whimiscal flights of fancy; love and hate; joy and loss; robots and spaceships and clockwork people – they are all in here!” George Watson for Geek Speak.
- A copy of Errant Story Volume One by Michael Poe. Signed by the author.
I’ve been reading Michael Poe’s comics since back before I was published. This is a signed copy of the first volume of Errant Story. A series that’s worth loving if only for its name…
- A copy of Retribution Index by John Allison.
I love Allison’s comics because they’re funny, surreal, and have brilliant use of the language. Also, one of the main characters, Shelly, reminds me of Sarah.
Though she doesn’t read many webcomics, Sarah likes this one, too. I think its because she likes watching someone as delightfully chipper and batshit crazy as she is.
(Edit: I was going to donate my copy of Allison’s Skellington, too. But I see it’s out of print now. So I’m keeping it. There are some lines I will not cross, even for Worldbuilders.)
- A copy of The Dork Ages by Scott Kurtz. Signed by the author.
Odds are, if you read webcomics, you already know about PVP. But just in case you don’t, you might want to check them out. They’re one of my daily reads for years now. Kurtz’s comic is a cool mix of humor, ongoing story, healthy red-blooded American geekery.
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Last but not least, we have two webcomic artists who really stepped up to the plate for Worldbuilders this year. The first of these is Greg Dean of Real Life.
Greg has been doing webcomics almost as long as anyone out there. He started up Real Life back in 1999, making him one of the rare people that can say they’ve been in the business more than a decade.
I met up with Greg at San Diego Comic-con in 2009, and we got to hang out. Greg wrote a comic about the encounter which is pretty much entirely true.
Despite my obvious conversational barbarism, Greg has not shunned me. Instead, he’s offered to help out Worldbuilders by donating a guest appearance in his comic.
- A guest appearance in Greg Dean’s Real Life.
The details:
The winner of this auction will collaborate with webcomic artist Greg Dean on guest appearance in Real Life. While an appearance in only one comic is guaranteed, the guest appearance may span more than one strip if the character becomes entangled in a longer storyline or subplot. While the nature of the strip will be collaborative, the final call on content does belong to Greg.
Greg will also include a signed, framed, print of the comic as well, embossed and sparkling with all sorts of awesomeness.
You can check out the Real Life auction and place your bids over here.
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The other webcomic artist going above and beyond the call of duty to help out Worldbuilders this year is Howard Taylor.
I met Howard at Penguicon this year, and, well… kinda made an ass of myself in front of him. (I think I might be detecting a trend here…)
But again, despite my lack of social grace, Howard was willing to help out with Worldbuilders by donating both some lovely signed books and a named appearance in his comic, Schlock Mercenary.
Let’s list the books first:
- Two copies of Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars. Numbered, first edition with signed cover and sketch by Howard Taylor.
- Two copies of Schlock Mercenary: Resident Mad Scientist. Numbered, first edition with signed cover and sketch by Howard Taylor.
- A copy of Schlock Numbered: Under New Management. Numbered, first edition with signed cover and sketch by Howard Taylor.
Schlock Mercenary is another one of the rare webcomics that’s been around since the olden times. And when these books showed up I felt morally obliged to… inspect them. For shipping damage. On a page-by-page basis….
While I was inspecting them, I was amazed at how easy it is to start reading the comic at any point in the story. (That’s why I’m handing these comics out individually instead of as a set.) The footnotes and additional information provided in the books reminded me that Howard is scary smart, and puts a ton of thought into the science of even some of his simple throwaway gags.
Each of these books has a hand-drawn sketch on the final page. These sketches were part of the release for each book and quantities were limited.
- A named appearance in Howard Taylor’s Schlock Mercenary.
The details:
The winner of the auction will have one or more of their given names used as a character name in the Schlock Mercenary online comic. The name will appear at least once in the next 8 months. The survival or death of your named character is solely at the discretion of Howard.
If the winner provides a mailing address, Howard will send the original strip art once the comic has aired.
You can check out the Schlock Mercenary auction and place your bids over here.
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Remember folks, for every 10 dollars you donate to Heifer International, you get a chance to win these books and hundreds of others like them.
In addition to that, Worldbuilders is matching 50% of all donations made on our Team Heifer page before Dec 13th.
For more details about Worldbuilders, the auctions we’re running, and the donated books, you can head over HERE.
Brilliance Audio, BBC, Unicorns and Felicia Day
You know what’s surprising? If you google “Unicorns and Felicia Day” you don’t get any direct hits.
I find myself oddly proud to be the first.
With less than a week to go, Worldbuilders is still going strong. We’ve raised more than 92,000 dollars for Heifer International so far, and I’m hoping we can break 100,000 by the end of the week.
So remember, if you donate on our team page before Dec 13th, Worldbuilders will match 50% of your donation. Plus you have the chance to win all sorts of cool swag like this:
Y’all know about The Guild, right? If you’re geeky enough to have discovered our fundraiser, I kinda already assume you know about the Guild.
But even if you do know about The Guild, you might not have heard about this yet, as it’s pretty new:
Over the years I’ve come to think of The Onion’s A.V. Club as the gold-standard of reviews. This isn’t just because they gave my book one of the best reviews ever. It’s because if the reviewers in the A.V. Club think something is crap, they aren’t afraid to say so, at great length, and with many scathing words.
So read the following blurb with that in mind.
“Seamlessly integrates with the web series’ mixture of discomfort humor and deep understanding of-and wry sympathy for-gaming nerddom.” -The Onion’s A.V. Club
I’ve gushed about this on a previous blog. And after buying at least a dozen copies to give away as gifts I couldn’t help myself from picking up another five just to donate to Worldbuilders.
I do this in order to share the joy with as many people as possible. If you’ve ever read a Sherlock Holmes story you’ll laugh your ass of at this BBC production of the Adventures of Sexton Blake.
Anyone who’s been reading my blog for any amount of time knows how I feel about Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Let’s just take that as read, shall we?
I’ve picked up five copies just for Worldbuilders this year because if you haven’t watched it, you really need to. And if you have watched it, but haven’t caught the musical commentary on the DVD then you’re really missing out.
Next we’ve got some lovely audiobooks from Brilliance audio.
While I never made it to the end of Goodkind’s series, I do have a certain fondness for this first book. I read it in 1998, back when I was having a bit of a creative slump. Reading this book for the first time jazzed me back up a little and got me back into working on The Name of the Wind.
“Wonderfully creative, seamless, and stirring.” – Kirkus Review
Whenever I read Catherynne Valente’s stuff, I’m made uncomfortably aware of the fact that she’s probably way smarter than me.
That said, she writes a hell of a book, and I was proud to discover she was one of the other authors who was writing for Scalzi’s Unicorn Pegasus Kitten chapbook.
While I haven’t listened to the audio version of Palimpsest, I have read it. Valente has a gorgeous use of language and she’s created a completely unique world. Plus the book is kinda sexy. Plus it has an awesome cover. Plus extra points for use of the word “palimpsest.”
“Overflowing with poetic images and epic repetition, Valente’s story washes us to an unexpected shore. –Regina Schroeder for Booklist.
First off, this is written by Bill Willingham. So you know you’re in for a good time.
Second off, this is actually a Fables novel. So you know you’re getting to explore a well-developed world with a cool mythic underpinning.
Lastly, this book is read by Wil Wheaton.
So there you go. Even before you consider the fact that this is in a neat collector’s tin, you’ve already got a trifecta of cool.
“BBC announcer/Shakespearean actor Prebble’s performance is wonderfully nuanced. His authoritative narration, combined with his chameleon-like facility for character and accent, is nothing short of enchanting… The experience of listening to this audiobook is something rare, as it’s a literary tale that brings history, science and philosophy to life in a heartily entertaining fashion.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The 23 stories not only capture the unique feel of Vance’s dying universe but stand individually as one of the strongest gatherings of writers to pay homage to one of their own. This is highly recommended.” – Library Journal (starred review)
“Fresh, interesting tales…[that] star some of the more famous series characters like Sookie Stackhouse.” – Alternative Worlds
“A captivating collection…offers up the Christmas spirit in a wonderfully wicked way.” – Darque Reviews
“Thoroughly enjoyable…a toothsome collection of birthday treats you will not want to miss.” – Monsters and Critics
“Toothsome” is a word you don’t hear enough anymore. I’m going to make a point of using it today…
“Harris and Kelner’s third short-story anthology sends paranormals on vacation… Sarah Smith, Daniel Stashower, L.A. Banks, Lilith Saintcrow, and Sharan Newman also contribute quality work, and readers will find this collection a great sampler for discovering authors they’ll want to follow.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“Lackey makes a real page-turner out of Mags’ and the collegia’s development… this book’s outstanding characters, especially Mags, will greatly please Valdemar fans.” – Booklist
I had to get a special pen to sign these. I actually left the house. I don’t like to do that very often, so you better appreciate it.
This movie was made back when an author could actually be directly involved in creating a movie. Since Peter was actually had a hand in this project, it’s surprisingly true to the novel. Both in the tone of the story and the text of the dialogue itself.
This is a really great movie. It was animated by Rankin/Bass, the same folks that did the original animated Hobbit movie. It’s got a great score, and is very faithful to the spirit of the original novel. It’s sweet, mythic, tender, and frightening in places, just like any good old fashioned fairy tale is supposed to be.
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Lastly Conlan Press has donated a couple unique items that I can’t help but auction off.
What we have here are original film cells from The Last Unicorn movie. Each of them in a clear protective envelope signed by Peter S. Beagle himself.
If you want more details about the cells, or if you want to order a specific set of cells as, you can check out Peter S. Beagle’s newsletter over here.
This is what Beagle’s signature looks like on the protective envelope.
When I think of all the magician characters I’ve read over the years, only a few really stand out. Gandalf is the first of these, of course. But after that comes Merlin, Pug, and Schmendrick.
To see more pictures or to bid on this Vintage Film Cell featuring Schmendrick the magician you can follow this link.
This cell shows a classic Rankin/Bass landscape with the unicorn on the hillside at night.
To see more pictures or to bid on this Vintage Film Cell from the Last Unicorn, you can follow this link.
And here we have a cell with a close-up of the unicorn herself.
To see more pictures or bid on this Vintage Film Cell from the Last Unicorn, you can follow this link.
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Remember folks, for every 10 dollars you donate to Heifer International, you get a chance to win these cool audiobooks and hundreds of others like them.
In addition to that, Worldbuilders is matching 50% of all donations made on our Team Heifer page before Dec 13th.
For more details about Worldbuilders, the auctions we’re running, and the other donated books, you can head over HERE.